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Enemies of the People

Author

Listed:
  • Gerhard Toews
  • Pierre-Louis Vézina

Abstract

The Soviet regime forcedly sent millions of enemies of the people, i.e. the educated elite considered a threat to the regime, to Gulag camps across the USSR. We use this large-scale episode of terror as a natural experiment to provide evidence on the long-run persistence of human capital across generations and its effect on economic growth. We combine archive data from the Gulag with the 2018 Russian firm census to show that areas around camps with a larger share of enemies among camp prisoners are more prosperous today, as captured by firms' wages and profits, and night lights per capita.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerhard Toews & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2025. "Enemies of the People," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 310-342, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:17:y:2025:i:1:p:310-42
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20220231
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    Cited by:

    1. Kok, Chun Chee & Lim, Gedeon & Shariat, Danial & Siddique, Abu & Tsuda, Shunsuke, 2025. "Interethnic Proximity and Political Development," IZA Discussion Papers 17776, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Castañeda Dower, Paul & Markevich, Andrei & Weber, Shlomo, 2021. "The value of a statistical life in a dictatorship: Evidence from Stalin," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Lonsky, Jakub, 2025. "Gulags, crime, and elite violence: Origins and consequences of the Russian mafia," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N94 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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